Smoking Ban in Spain

Spain will ban smoking in public areas on the 2nd of January 2011.

The legislation has been pushed on Spain by the EU. It's a slippery slope and an affront to democracy and personal liberty.

I agree that smokers should be considerate, especially around children, diners and flammable flora. I hate seeing cigarette butts in the sand.

I don't see the need for governments to tell us what to do. It's a slippery slope. If you leave it up to the government, you remove the responsibility from the citizens. Good respectful and careful behaviour becomes enforced by the state rather than society.

At least in Spain you don't have to standing outside in the rain.

There should be smoking bars, not out right bans. Cigarettes go well with coffee and drinks. Some people enjoy it. It's also quite social.

The science behind the ban is flimsy at best. Of the 92 peer review scientific journal articles on passive smoking, none conclusively show that passive smoking causes disease.

The smoking bans have been introduced largely because of lobbyists such as ASH

The diffusion gradient of cigarette smoke from the smoker to the passive smoker is such that it's impossible to accumulate toxins at a level that causes cancer. Anti-smokers may find it unpleasant, but it's not as much of a health hazard as walking next to a line of traffic.

For more information on the history of the anti-smoking movement visit www.velvetgloveironfist.com